Subjects » History

In a rapidly changing world, IGCSE History gives students the opportunity not only of studying aspects of the past, but also of developing an understanding of the complexity of human societies and of acquiring a range of skills which are useful in everyday life.The study of History should produce greater understanding of the present, not only because events repeat themselves,but because all political, social, cultural and economic developments have their roots in the past, and cannot be explained without reference to these roots.

THE IGCSE HISTORY COURSE

The course covers major events in the Twentieth Century.

Topics covered include:

The peace treaties of 1919-23
The League of Nations
The origins of the Second World War and hence the rise of Hitler, Mussolini and Japanese militarism
The origins of the Cold War, America and events in Cuba, 1956-62, American involvement in Vietnam
Soviet control in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968, the building of the Berlin Wall, Solidarity in Poland, Gorbachev and the collapse of the Soviet Empire.

ASSESSMENT

Paper 1 ( 1 hour 45 minutes) will consist of two sections.

Section A (Core Content) will contain four questions.Candidates must answer two questions.

Section B (Depth Studies) will contain two questions on each of the Depth Studies.
Candidates must answer one question.There are a variety of topics to choose from.Topics covered in the past include Southern Africa in the Twentieth Century and Germany, 1918-45.

Paper 2 (2 hours)
The topics will be prescribed each year and will be taken from the Core Content.(See topics listed above).The paper includes a collection of source material relating to the prescribed topic, and a series of questions based on the material.

Paper 3, Coursework (School-based assessment)
Candidates will be required to produce two pieces of coursework, totalling around 1500 words.The coursework will be based on the Depth Study.